1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a connector wherein a female terminal is inserted in a chamber of a housing.
2. Related Art
A connector has been known, as shown in FIG. 12A, wherein through chambers 82, in several rows and columns in the directions of height and width, are formed in a housing 81 in parallel to each other, a female terminal 84 being approximately tubular in the front half and being connected to an electric wire 83 in the back is inserted into and fixed in each of the chambers 82, and male terminals of a counterpart connector are inserted into these female terminals 84 to make mechanical connections as well as electrical connections (refer to, for example, Japanese Provisional Patent Hei 8-106944). A port 85 opens in the front end of the above- mentioned female terminal 84 to receive a male terminal. A splicing part 86 is formed in the back of the female terminal 84 to connect an electric wire 83. A concave fixing part 87 is formed in an intermediate part of the female terminal 84. A hook of a lance 88 that is flexibly formed in a chamber 82 of the housing 81 fits into this concave fixing part 87 to provide a primary fixing of the female terminal 84 to the housing 81. Moreover, a fixing piece 90 of a retainer 89 that is fitted into the housing 81 is set at the back of a stabilizer 91 that is formed on the top of the intermediate part of the female terminal 84 to provide a secondary fixing of the female terminal 84 to the housing 81.
Apart from this, a connection structure between a female terminal of this kind and a male terminal has been disclosed in Japanese Provisional Patent Hei 9-232021. As shown in FIG. 12B, to hold an inserted male terminal 92', a leaf spring 93' is integrally formed inside the terminal body 94' of a female terminal 84'.
This leaf spring 93' is blanked out together with the terminal body 94' of a sheet metal and formed by bending the blank. When the material and thickness of the sheet metal are selected by considering formability, cost, etc., it is difficult to secure a sufficient contacting force from the single leaf spring 93'. Hence the above-mentioned Japanese Provisional Patent Hei 9-232021 has disclosed a technology wherein a separate reinforcing leaf spring 95' is blanked out together with the terminal body 94' and this reinforcing leaf spring 95' is bent on the inner side of the main leaf spring 93' to form double springs and ensure a sufficient contacting force. In this case, as each of the leaf springs 93', 95' is formed by bending, a gap is formed between two unrestricted leaf springs due to springbacks. As the dimension of this gap is a cumulative result of steps of forming two springs, it is difficult to accurately control this dimension in the production. It is hard to avoid dispersion in this gap dimension. This poses a problem. At the time of use, the point of inflection of the spring constant at which the main spring 93' contacts the reinforcing spring 95' and both springs 93', 95' start to be deformed varies from product to product. Thus contacting forces are not stable and vary from product to product. Moreover, as the two leaf springs 93', 95' are overlapped with each other, the female terminal 84' becomes bulkier, preventing the ability to make the connector more compact. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 12B, a round part 96' that is bent into an approximately circular arc is formed near the root end of the leaf spring 93'. When the radius of curvature of this round part 96' is small, cracks may be generated in the round part 96' in use as shown in FIG. 12C. If corrosion develops from these cracks, the contacting force will become extremely unstable.
The above-mentioned stabilizer 91 can exhibit a function of preventing so-called inverse insertion; if the female terminal 84 is inserted into the chamber 82 of the housing 81 in an incorrect orientation, for example, upside down, the stabilizer 91 will catch the entrance of the chamber 82 to prevent further insertion. Because of this function, the female terminal 84 and the retainer 89 are brought to a proper positional relationship and the female terminal 84 is fixed by the retainer 89. However, as the stabilizer is to be fixed by a fixing piece 90 of the retainer 89, the stabilizer is provided on the top of the intermediate part of the terminal body. Accordingly, the front portion of the terminal body ahead of the stabilizer 91, even if it is inverted upside down, would be inserted. This, in turn, would make the assembly worker forcefully insert the female terminal 84 further, resulting in a damage to the chamber and nearby portions of the housing 81.
When a continuity test or the like is to be conducted on to a female terminal of a connector, a test jig having a shape identical to that of a male terminal is inserted into the female terminal. When the test jig is used repeatedly, the jig may be deformed. If such a deformed jig is forced into a female terminal, the lead spring, etc. will be damaged and thus cause trouble.
A connector is used in combination with a counterpart connector. Making the counterpart connector more compact is also desired. If there is an error in assembling a male terminal in the counterpart connector, the male terminal may be assembled to be slightly slanted in relation to the housing. In the worst case, such a male terminal may cause a trouble that it can not be inserted into a female terminal.